BILL REQ. #:  H-0599.1 

Read first time 01/28/13.   Referred to Committee on Labor & Workforce Development.

     AN ACT Relating to reporting payments for construction services; amending RCW 39.12.055; adding a new section to chapter 51.04 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 42.56 RCW; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 51.04 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) An entity that in the course of business makes a payment to a construction service provider of six hundred dollars or more in a taxable year for performing construction services shall report the payment to the department and the construction service provider in a manner prescribed by the department.
     (2) The report must be transmitted by the entity to the department and the construction service provider on or before January 31st following the taxable year the payment was made. The report must include:
     (a) The entity's name, address, and unified business identification number;
     (b) The construction service provider's name, address, and unified business identification number;
     (c) The total amount the entity paid to the construction service provider in the taxable year, including payments for services and for any materials and equipment that were provided along with services; and
     (d) Any other information that the department requires by rule.
     (3)(a) The department shall transmit the report to the commissioner of the employment security department no later than the first day of the month following the calendar quarter the report was received. The department may share the report, upon request, with any other local, state, or federal government agency.
     (b) Except as provided in (a) of this subsection, reports filed under this section are confidential and exempt from public disclosure under chapter 42.56 RCW, other than to public employees in the performance of their official duties.
     (4)(a) If the director determines that an entity has failed to file a report or has filed an incomplete report, he or she may assess a monetary penalty of not less than two hundred dollars and not more than one thousand dollars per report. If the director determines that an entity has knowingly failed to file a report or knowingly filed an incomplete, false, or misleading report, he or she may assess a monetary penalty of not less than one thousand dollars and not more than five thousand dollars per report. An entity that is assessed a penalty under this subsection shall not be permitted to bid, or have a bid considered, on any public works contract until the penalty has been paid in full. Penalties assessed under this subsection shall be deposited in the general fund.
     (b) An entity found to have violated this section shall, in addition to any other penalties, be subject to the penalties in RCW 39.12.055.
     (5) The requirements of this section do not apply to an entity that does not regularly contract for construction services, as defined by the department.
     (6) The department may adopt rules to implement and enforce this section.
     (7) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (a) "Construction services" includes the erection, excavation, installation, alteration, addition, modification, repair, improvement, demolition, deconstruction, dismantling, or removal of all or any part of a building, structure, dock, wharf, surface, or subsurface on or attached to any real property.
     (b) "Construction service provider" means a general contractor or specialty contractor, as defined in RCW 18.27.010, that provides construction services regardless of whether the general contractor or specialty contractor is registered under chapter 18.27 RCW.
     (c) "Entity" includes a sole proprietor, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, trust, association, financial institution, governmental entity, other than the federal government, and any other individual or group, engaged in a trade, occupation, enterprise, governmental function, or similar activity in this state.
     (d) "Payment" does not include wages paid by the entity to an employee.

Sec. 2   RCW 39.12.055 and 2009 c 197 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     A contractor shall not be allowed to bid on any public works contract for one year from the date of a final determination that the contractor has committed any combination of two of the following violations or infractions within a five-year period:
     (1) Violated RCW 51.48.020(1) ((or)), 51.48.103, or section 1 of this act;
     (2) Committed an infraction or violation under chapter 18.27 RCW for performing work as an unregistered contractor; or
     (3) Determined to be out of compliance by the Washington state apprenticeship and training council for working apprentices out of ratio, without appropriate supervision, or outside their approved work processes as outlined in their standards of apprenticeship under chapter 49.04 RCW.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 42.56 RCW to read as follows:
     Reports filed with the department of labor and industries under section 1 of this act are exempt from public disclosure under this chapter.